Our Guides

Go Trek Guides.. Climb Among the Best!

Our guides have climbed extensively throughout the world and have considerable training and professional leadership experience nationally and internationally. We partner with guides who are not only highly experienced but who are native to their respective countries.

Romula Cardensa

Romulo is one of the most experienced professional mountain guides in Ecuador and one of the pioneers of mountain guiding in the Ecuadorian Andes and beyond. His reputation and passion for the mountains drove Craig Van Hoy and Go Trek to enlist his special services. He climbs and guides not for the job, but to help participants fulfill their dreams and find new routes and new personal summits. Romulo is fluent in English and has been climbing and leading groups around the world for more than 30 years. During his vast mountaineering career, Rómulo became the first Ecuadorian to reach the summit of Mount Vinson and Denali. In addition, he’s an avid photographer, focusing his camera on Andean culture, flora and fauna of Ecuador.

Carlos Escobar

Carlos, fully certified by the International Federation of Mountain Guides Association (IFMGA), directs a variety of climbing programs in Bolivia, his native country, and has climbed extensively throughout South America. A 20-year veteran of mountain guiding, Carlos was president of the Association of Bolivian Mountain Guides and is a UIAGM/UIAA certified International Mountain Guide. He has vast experience on the popular Peruvian peaks (Ausangate, Huascaran, Alpamayo), Ecuadorian peaks (Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, Cayambe) and has made seven trips to Aconcagua. Carlos has also assisted several scientific expeditions in the Bolivian Andes organized by the Climate System Research Center of the University of Massachusetts.

Matt Farmer

Go Trek’s Craig Van Hoy recruited Matt because the man can do it all – and he’s got that “can’t wait” enthusiasm to get on the next mountain. Farmer has a solid background in all disciplines of climbing and particularly enjoys long alpine rock and ice climbs as well as ski-mountaineering. Matt welcomes the chance to share with others the challenges and subsequent rewards of moving through technical terrain in the mountains. Level III avalanche certification and medical training such as EMT and OEC certifications complement his diverse skills as a climber and guide. These qualifications form a core of competence which ensures a fun time in the mountains whatever the itinerary. Matt is IFMGA certified and is working on his full AMGA certification.

Doug Ironside

Doug’s uncanny ability to communicate his knowledge of outdoor recreation skills to climbers and trekkers of all ages was a logical fit for Go Trek and Craig Van Hoy. Doug’s vast experience in snow sports ranging from snowshoeing to skiing allows all outdoors enthusiasts to become more adventurous in a safer manner. He’s been guiding outdoor recreation in the Pacific Northwest for more than 20 years and his avalanche safety class has brought national acclaim. Doug takes his clients beyond basic “snow science” to study how avalanches form, where they form and how to assess their potential. In addition, he explores the human behavior related to avalanches – how decisions are made, how groups operate, how real or perceived “peer pressure” is best handled on the slopes. Doug is the co-facilitator of the annual Outdoor Orientation Odyssey at Reed College in Portland.

Aronld Pedrosa

All of our Go Trek clients who join us for a Mexican trip are treated to Arnold’s historical and cultural expertise not only in Mexico City but also in the colonial town of Puebla. Arnold, a native Mexican, serves as Go Trek’s cultural tour guide and has earned degrees in Cultural Anthropology and History from the University of San Diego and continues to learn and teach near his home in Mexico City. While many visitors are overwhelmed with the cultural logistics of historic areas, Arnold has ushered Craig Van Hoy’s customers to the “can’t-miss” parks, cathedrals, and famous places of Mexico for eight years. He knows the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City like the back of his hand and accompanies our guests even in the mountains. Arnold has done some scrambling and trekking on his own, having reached the summit of 14,121-foot La Malinche with the Go Trek group in 2002.

Alaina Robertson

While born and raised in Seattle, Alaina spent a significant amount of her climbing life away from home. While her passion for climbing – the spark that moved Craig Van Hoy to hand-pick her as a Go Trek partner – has taken her all over the world, she has chosen to spend most of her time in Latin America and India. Alaina has trained with the Indian Army in their Himalayan mountaineering program and has done her fair share of rock climbing in Central America which led to her participation in one of Guatemala’s adventure television programs. Closer to home, she has guided and climbed virtually all the distinguished peaks in the Pacific Northwest has more than 30 ascents of Mt. Rainier. Alaina holds a variety of certifications, including B-3 Helicopter and Wilderness First Responder.

John Rust

When it comes to calming anxious climbers on a difficult rock mass, John has few peers. John’s patience, good humor, kind disposition and experience make him a natural teacher and a terrific member of Craig Van Hoy’s Go Trek team of guides and instructors. A veteran mountaineer, John is a professional rock climbing instructor and ski coach with an accomplished race history to his own credit. He’s led multiple rock, ice and alpine climbs in the Tetons, Bugaboos, Dolomites, Swiss Alps and Alaska. He has been the lead guide in dozens of international expeditions – and has reached the summit of many or Europe’s remarkable peaks, including Mt. Blanc, Matterhorn, and Monte Rose along with Antarctica’s Vinson Massif and Alaska’s Mt. McKinley.

Lisa Rust

Lisa’s expertise in Northwest climbing, coupled with her impressive international experience, makes her an ideal leader for Go Trek’s clients. Rust has worked as a professional mountain and rock-climbing guide since 1995 and has over 50 ascents of Mt. Rainier and numerous ascents of glaciated peaks in the Pacific Northwest. She has also guided six expeditions on Mt. McKinley, climbed and guided on legendary mountains such as Aconcagua, Elbrus, Mt. Blanc, and the Matterhorn. She’s trekked peaks in Nepal and was a guide on Mt. Everest for the American Women’s Expedition that reached the south summit in 2002. Lisa, a middle school science teacher in Hood River, Oregon, is a nationally certified EMT and has Level 2 Avalanche Training and Outdoor Emergency Care certification through the National Ski Patrol. When she’s not climbing, Lisa enjoys mountain biking, telemark skiing, and spending time with her husband and fellow climber, John Rust.

Tino Villanueva

Tino is all about safety and communication – the essential ingredients that drove Go Trek’s Craig Van Hoy to enlist the versatile guide as a partner. Tino knows that the most primary responsibility of a guide is to maintain their client’s safety in an inherently dangerous environment and he’s undergone intensive training to prepare himself for nearly every possible experience.He is also trained and knowledgeable in rescue specific techniques and has aided climbers on Denali, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood and in the Crystal Mountain backcountry requiring extensive evacuation techniques and/or helicopter evacuation. A graduate of the University of Oregon with a degree in Human Physiology and a minor in Chemistry, Tino is also an accomplished musician.

Kent Wagner

Kent’s genuine appreciation of people and cultural is a terrific asset that Go Trek and Craig Van Hoy absolutely wanted to tap. Kent has explored and photographed remote landscapes around the globe visiting familiar and exotic cultures and documenting mankind’s interaction with the natural world. Kent has spent considerable time guiding on Denali, Kilimanjaro and Aconcagua – several of the Seven Summits of the World. He grew up in New Hampshire where his love for the outdoors began while hiking, climbing, skiing and running rivers in the Northeast. He has guided more than 100 river trips through Grand Canyon, has lead backcountry skiers in the wilderness of Colorado and Utah, and spent several seasons working as a divemaster in the Andaman Sea west of Thailand. A resident of Boulder, Colorado, his photography work has been featured in numerous outdoor magazines, catalogs and websites. Visit his website at: www.kentwagner.org

Scott Wazny

Scott Wazny, a Portland resident and snowboard instructor at Mt. Hood, is one of the reasons Go Trek’s custom climbs are so varied and instructional. Scott has scaled virtually every major peak in the world, including Mt. Everest. Scott has also had recent expeditions to Costa Rica’s Mt. Chrippo and Argentina’s Mt. Aconcagua along with the three highest points on the African continent – Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Kenya, and Mawenzi. Craig Van Hoy’s ability to lure versatile climbers with international experience makes the Go Trek calendar of adventures as complete as any in the country.